Anyone use Japanese cutlery? The handle on my trusty Wustof has been cracked for several years, and it's starting to come undone. I've been giving some thought to Japanese-made western-style knives, like this Gyuto by Suisin.

For the money (~$130 for a 9" knife) I really think they're hard to beat.

Oh, and tifosi, I wanted to thank you for posting the equilibrium-brining method. I used that to brine some country-style ribs overnight, after which I dried them off and then hit them with a salt-free rub for another four hours. They were then indirect gilled. The end result was some of the most tender ribs I've ever made.

tifosi77 wrote:Anyone use Japanese cutlery? The handle on my trusty Wustof has been cracked for several years, and it's starting to come undone. I've been giving some thought to Japanese-made western-style knives, like this Gyuto by Suisin.

For the money (~$130 for a 9" knife) I really think they're hard to beat.

My first "good" knife was a Henckles Twin Four Star II 8" Chef's. I like it and have had it for 6-7 years, stays sharp long, just a good knife. My wife doesn't like it due to it having a larger man-sized handle.

We recently picked up some Shun's. (Expensive, but if you watch for online deals, you can get them at a reasonable price). We have the 11" Shun Ken Onion slicer we got for $100 on a Black Friday deal. Strange look, but very comfortable in one's hand. Ambidexterous design, which is good as I'm left handed and the Mrs. is right handed. Super sharp, hold a good edge, beautiful slices of fish and meat with one continuous stroke.

Also have the Shun Ken Onion 4.5" paring knife, look this one up, weird angled blade, but again, it's awesome. Clearance sale find for $40. Can do all sorts of artsy things with it. Might be my wife's favorite knife.

Finally, we got lucky and after our wedding, we used gift cards to get the Shun Hiro Dual Density 5.5" utility knife for $150. This knife is beautiful. Two different styles of serration. Good for everything from bread to tomatoes. perfect slices of bread and can cut paper thin, mess free slices of tomato. With a potato, can cut so thin, one can see through the slice! Did I say it's beautiful?

All the above are damascus style steel, the Hiro is 65 layers of alternating nickle and stainless, whereas the Ken Onions' are 33 layers. Too much work to put up pics, but google them, they are beautiful and SHARP! PITA to sharpen as they use the odd 17 degree japanese angle, but Shun offers a free sharpening service, just send it in to the factory. We haven't had to use this yet as if you treat them properly, them seem to hold an edge for quite some time.

tifosi77 wrote:Anyone use Japanese cutlery? The handle on my trusty Wustof has been cracked for several years, and it's starting to come undone. I've been giving some thought to Japanese-made western-style knives, like this Gyuto by Suisin.

For the money (~$130 for a 9" knife) I really think they're hard to beat.

My first "good" knife was a Henckles Twin Four Star II 8" Chef's. I like it and have had it for 6-7 years, stays sharp long, just a good knife. My wife doesn't like it due to it having a larger man-sized handle.

We recently picked up some Shun's. (Expensive, but if you watch for online deals, you can get them at a reasonable price). We have the 11" Shun Ken Onion slicer we got for $100 on a Black Friday deal. Strange look, but very comfortable in one's hand. Ambidexterous design, which is good as I'm left handed and the Mrs. is right handed. Super sharp, hold a good edge, beautiful slices of fish and meat with one continuous stroke.

Also have the Shun Ken Onion 4.5" paring knife, look this one up, weird angled blade, but again, it's awesome. Clearance sale find for $40. Can do all sorts of artsy things with it. Might be my wife's favorite knife.

Finally, we got lucky and after our wedding, we used gift cards to get the Shun Hiro Dual Density 5.5" utility knife for $150. This knife is beautiful. Two different styles of serration. Good for everything from bread to tomatoes. perfect slices of bread and can cut paper thin, mess free slices of tomato. With a potato, can cut so thin, one can see through the slice! Did I say it's beautiful?

All the above are damascus style steel, the Hiro is 65 layers of alternating nickle and stainless, whereas the Ken Onions' are 33 layers. Too much work to put up pics, but google them, they are beautiful and SHARP! PITA to sharpen as they use the odd 17 degree japanese angle, but Shun offers a free sharpening service, just send it in to the factory. We haven't had to use this yet as if you treat them properly, them seem to hold an edge for quite some time.

Mr. BadHands71 pretty much covered it. We're big fans of the Shun knives in our household. I've tried the Global knives and wasn't that impressed. Wusthof knives are nice but a little expensive for quality. They used to better quality IMO. I feel the same way about Henkels. Certain styles of Henkels knives are annoying for me because of the size and shape of the handles. I would highly recommend going to a store that allows you to hold them like Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table. What fits well in the hand and is comfortable varies for each person, it's just a question of finding what works for you.

Okay, getting back on topic, I have a question for the cooks on the board.

We'll be in South Africa over Thanksgiving which goes without saying is a disappointment for any food lover. I won't be able to get a turkey here (and there are two of us so that wouldn't really make much sense anyway). I was thinking about doing a chicken the traditional way (brined, stuffed, baked). I'm just not sure how it would turn out. Or should I just abandon the tradition idea and make stuffing on the side and have ham or pork roast? I'm open to any ideas to replace Thanksgiving turkey. Pretty much everything else that is traditional for Thanksgiving will be doable.

tifosi77 wrote:I've heard some good things about those Global knives (they seem to be popular in the cheffy crowd), but I've never really liked them that much. Ymmv, I guess.

They do have a unique appearance. Personally, I like the combination of my stamped-steel Victorinoxes and my Chef’s Choice electric sharpener. Sure, I need to sharpen the stamped knives more often and consequently I’m grinding them away faster, but I don't think I paid more than $30 for any of them.

BadHands71 wrote:Okay, getting back on topic, I have a question for the cooks on the board.

We'll be in South Africa over Thanksgiving which goes without saying is a disappointment for any food lover. I won't be able to get a turkey here (and there are two of us so that wouldn't really make much sense anyway). I was thinking about doing a chicken the traditional way (brined, stuffed, baked). I'm just not sure how it would turn out. Or should I just abandon the tradition idea and make stuffing on the side and have ham or pork roast? I'm open to any ideas to replace Thanksgiving turkey. Pretty much everything else that is traditional for Thanksgiving will be doable.

It will be much easier to make a successful meal if you let the region you're in talk to you and tell you what's what. Don't know much about SA, but I do know that game animals are very popular there, as is lamb.

My in-laws were in SA for vacay a couple years ago and they still go on about the trip like it was last week. Left an impression.

Shyster wrote:

tifosi77 wrote:I've heard some good things about those Global knives (they seem to be popular in the cheffy crowd), but I've never really liked them that much. Ymmv, I guess.

They do have a unique appearance. Personally, I like the combination of my stamped-steel Victorinoxes and my Chef’s Choice electric sharpener. Sure, I need to sharpen the stamped knives more often and consequently I’m grinding them away faster, but I don't think I paid more than $30 for any of them.

The Victorinoxes are not bad, given the price point. I'd be happy to use one in a low-mileage blade, like a bread knife or even a flexible boning or filet knife. But I use my chef's knife for probably 80% of my blade work, so I don't mind investing a few shekels in one if it cuts cleanly and with minimal drag. (Of course, almost any properly sharp knife will do that trick)

shmenguin wrote:That's a little more subtle than just dumping a bottle into the crockpot. It ended up too sweet.

What kind of beer does she use?

A dry or coffee stout seems to be preferable for most cooking uses. OutofFoil uses either Java Head or a similar stout in his chili when cooking the meat in a skillet. It creates a delicious result. When cooking with beer, the earlier you add it, the more sugar cooks off and the less sweet your dish will be. Generally adding the beer when cooking the meat works well.

If you're putting the beer into the chili - like as a liquid for the stew - then yes I can see an IPA becoming practically non-potable. As it cooks down, the actual liquid level is reducing and concentrating flavors. I can imagine after just a few minutes of cooking an IPA would become like aggro bitter.

I've made chili using wine as a liquid base, and even that can take on a certain funk if you're not careful.

tifosi77 wrote:If you're putting the beer into the chili - like as a liquid for the stew - then yes I can see an IPA becoming practically non-potable. As it cooks down, the actual liquid level is reducing and concentrating flavors. I can imagine after just a few minutes of cooking an IPA would become like aggro bitter.

I've made chili using wine as a liquid base, and even that can take on a certain funk if you're not careful.

Agreed. Cooking with any kind of alcohol can be tricky. I tried to make a bourbon glaze from scratch and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and added the bourbon too early. It was horrid and got thrown away.

I typically use lagers when I want to cook with beer, or at least milder flavored ales. I have been known to buy variety packs from time to time just to have a few beers in my closet that can be used for cooking.